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Former eBay CEO Meg Whitman enjoys a 2-to-1 lead over state Insurance Commissioner Steve Poizner for the Republican nomination for governor as the most expensive primary election campaign in California history draws to a close, according to a new Field Poll.

Whitman is favored 51 percent to 25 percent over Poizner among likely Republican voters in Tuesday’s primary election. Six percent back other candidates, and the remaining 18 percent are undecided.

The wealthy Republican candidates have spent a combined $110 million — most of it out of their own pockets — on a campaign that has taken on a highly negative tone in recent weeks. Despite that, the poll shows that favorable ratings of both candidates have grown among voters, and for Poizner in particular.

But he faces a huge mountain to climb in a very short time.

The nonpartisan statewide survey shows Whitman with comparable leads over Poizner in every demographic and ideological subgroup, even ones that Poizner has been courting most aggressively.

“I think the take-away for me, as I look at the data, is the failure of Poizner to get significant support in the targeted segments that he was trying to reach,” Field Poll director Mark DiCamillo said.

Even though both candidates are socially moderate Republicans, Poizner has campaigned as the “true conservative” and portrayed Whitman as unacceptably liberal.

But Republican voters who characterize themselves as “strongly conservative” favor Whitman 52 percent to 26 percent and Republicans of other ideological bents prefer her 49 percent to 25 percent.

Poizner has also been a fixture on the tea party protest circuit. But voters who say they strongly identify with the tea party movement support Whitman 55 percent to 25 percent.

The winner Tuesday will face Jerry Brown in November. The attorney general and former governor faces no serious opposition for the Democratic nomination.

The Poizner campaign insisted Thursday that there is time for the polls to narrow before Tuesday.

Whitman has been using her deep pockets “to lie about Steve Poizner and fool voters into thinking she’s a conservative,” said Jarrod Agen, communications director for the Poizner campaign. “But there are still many undecided Republicans who will side with Steve because of his strong stance on illegal immigration, his support for Prop. 13 and his plans to cut taxes across the board.”

Whitman so far has spent $68 million of her own money to Poizner’s $24 million.

Poizner has narrowed Whitman’s lead since a Field Poll in March showed her ahead 63 percent to 14 percent.

Intervening surveys by other pollsters indicated that Poizner had closed the gap dramatically after he began his television advertising campaign in April, but the race blew open again for Whitman.

In a furious exchange of advertising, the candidates relentlessly attacked each other as too liberal and soft on illegal immigration.

The harshly negative tone of the campaign has not adversely affected how Republican voters feel about Whitman to any significant degree.